-Katherine- The place Darius had chosen was amazing. It was in the countryside, far away from any cities, but there were villages and towns nearby that Darius owned. He owned all the land. His father had given him all of this, making sure he still carried a status even though he was born a bastard. Darius came up beside me as I watched the big mansion in front of us. It was incredible, and I knew there would be lots of room for him and me. Servants stood in long lines already waiting for us, and he explained to me that they were there to take care of the place even though he did not live there. He carried our son this time. Darius refused to put him down, which was incredibly adorable. I knew I had to learn to let go of him a little. I had been so on edge while in the castle that I simply didn’t have the ability to let him out of my sight, but it was time I gave him his own room. We walked inside, and I looked up at the ceiling, seeing the beautiful pattern that had been made, and th
-Katherine- Darius was not lying when he said he found it hard to sleep. In the middle of the night, I found him standing by the window, the fireplace behind him burning and casting a beautiful light on him. He was half dressed, wearing only pants, but I could see the worried expression on his face. I could see the way he looked out of the window, as if something might come running towards the house and attack us. I sat up a little, watching Darius, seeing the pain in him and how tight his body had gotten as he held himself in a defensive position. He sipped a little from a wine cup, and I felt my heart ache at the sight of him. I knew there wasn’t much I could do for him. My father had been a fighter too, and my mother did tell me sometimes he could act "funny" when he got home. I never truly understood why until I grew older. Or maybe now was when I truly understood it. Now I saw it. I saw how much it changed you and how dark it made you. I felt so bad for Darius because I didn’t k
-Darius- Katherine had received a little training in fighting. I could see in this world the other me had trained even more since Acan wasn’t in the way of her lessons anymore. But Katherine hadn’t been taught the same. This Katherine in front of me. She hadn’t experienced the same things. She might have the memories, but all those techniques and lessons the other Katherine had been given didn’t miraculously transfer to this Katherine. I watched as she swung her smaller sword around. It was made for her. Mine was too heavy. She smiled a little, and she looked very good in her training clothes—tight pants and a shirt—looking almost a bit like a pirate. A very sexy pirate. I knew Katherine thought this would ease my mind, and I did think there might be a chance it might. I still felt on edge. I thought the moment we came here and I could see my family in this great place, I could calm down again. I could be me again, but it wasn’t that simple, and Katherine noticed. She saw that I was
-Katherine- Darius and I went riding today. We had been at the estate for a while now, and I could see the changes that were happening in us. Good changes. The ones I had hoped I would get to experience at some point. I had begun to lose myself as well. I had done things I never thought I could do. I had lost myself in ways I hadn’t realized until Darius and I began becoming our old selves. We began playing around, laughing, and enjoying our time, and our son slowly felt at ease too. I hadn’t noticed I was stressing him out as well. He was so tiny, and I had thought he didn’t want to sleep a lot, but after coming to this place and settling down, he suddenly slept a lot. He had felt on edge too. After all, he had saved my life by letting me borrow his powers, and he knew there were dangers out there. He might not be able to speak yet, but he knew there were dangers. He knew letting down his guard was not something he could do in the castle. But out here? Out here, he felt good. He fel
-Katherine- In the middle of the night, I began hearing whimpering. It confused me, and I turned and looked over my shoulder, seeing Darius moving his head from side to side. His whole body was covered in a thin layer of sweat. The sheets barely covered him, and yet he was sweating so badly. I moved closer to him, reaching out and gently shaking him. He continued to whimper, so I called out to him. "Darius?" He continued to move his head around and be trapped in the nightmare, so I shook him harder. "Darius!" His eyes sprung open, and he clutched my wrist, making me hiss in pain, but I didn’t tell him to let go. I saw how lost his eyes looked, as if he were unsure of where he really was. Then he began calming down and saw who was in front of him. "Katherine?" he whispered. "I’m right here," I promised. He pulled me closer, crashing his lips against mine and shocking me with the power and passion behind the kiss. He pulled back only to pull me closer, then he had me get on top o
-Darius- Katherine had a point. I couldn’t hide forever. I couldn’t act like we weren’t needed yet, because we were. Just this letter from my brother spoke of how he was clearly pushing the people again, because who would pay for his war? Who were the ones who had to give up the money and the men? Acan wasn’t the one going into battle. He wasn’t the one joining the men out there. He knew how dangerous the Dark Ones were, and so he hid behind his high walls. He made others do the dirty work. He made them sacrifice everything for him. It was disgusting, and it only fueled my anger towards him. I didn’t want to go back, though. I didn’t want to risk Katherine or my son. Henry deserved to grow up somewhere safe where he didn’t have to put on a well-practiced mask to please the people around him. He deserved to be a young boy, running around and riding, chasing girls, and learning how to use a sword. He shouldn’t be burdened with social conduct and politics. He shouldn’t be burdened with
-Katherine- Some time passed where Darius and I continued to be happy, spending some lazy days in bed, training, riding, and enjoying our time with our son, who was growing so fast. It felt like I was blinking once, and suddenly he had changed before my eyes. I couldn’t wait to see the person he would grow into and the powers he would slowly develop. We didn’t show those powers until we grew older, but the magic was always inside us. I knew his powers, though. He had lent them to me when I was in trouble. Shapeshifting was an incredible power, and we would have to teach him to use it for good and not abuse it. He could truly hurt some people if he wanted to. But magic wasn’t evil. Only the person, so all Darius and I could do was love our child and make sure he knew every day how much we cherished him. He wouldn’t lack anything in life. We would make sure of it. He brought us so much joy, so of course, it was our duty to bring him joy too. That was a parent’s job. Becoming one was a
-Darius- Pregnant… Did I hear correctly? I knew how long it had taken the other Katherine and me to have their first child… or our first child, and now Katherine was telling me she was pregnant. She was pregnant! I could hardly wrap my head around it, and I kept looking at her, unsure what to say. My thoughts wouldn’t come together. I just kept looking at my beautiful wife, who seemed so confused that I wouldn’t answer her, but I sat there like a mute person. I hadn’t expected that. I thought we would wait years for a new baby, but now Katherine was pregnant again. She was making our family grow, and that happiness completely overwhelmed me. I had not expected how much it would stun me. Not because I was sad. I was just so overjoyed that I didn’t know how to respond. "Darius?" she called again. "Yeah…" "You sound disappointed," she whispered, but I shook my head, finally coming back to myself. I pulled her closer, then kissed her over and over, shocking her as I did. She let out a
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-Darius- My beautiful queen came over to me, kissing me before sitting down beside me. Years had passed since we ascended the thrones, ruling together, though my wife did most of the ruling. The way she just spoke to the people and connected with them was something I could never do, but with time, they had grown less afraid of me and more accepting. They had begun coming to me instead of barely being able to look at me, and while they still treated me with caution, it wasn’t coldness I was treated with. They loved Katherine, though, and she loved to be there for the people. She loved to make them feel heard and cared for, and she made them smile and laugh. We often went into the city together, just walking among the people and making sure they saw us, and we took all the kids with us. The whole table was almost filled with them. Silver’s and Acan’s boys had been sad about their parents. We never truly told them what a part we played in it, but that their parents had died from the mob
-Katherine- Darius and I had travelled quite far with our prisoners. We knew exactly who to give them to, and now we stood in the middle of the night with a single torch, a few guards, and Silver and Acan in front of us, tied up and shivering like crazy. Their clothes and bodies were dirty after days of being in the dungeon. We waited until things calmed down a little before bringing them here, and now we were waiting. We had already begun helping the people get back on their feet and ordered the army home. Things would go back to normal, but we knew we had work in front of us. But first things first, we needed to pay a debt. "It’s been a while, prince," the Dark Ones’ leader said as he emerged from the forest. He seemed to be alone, but I had the feeling he wasn’t. His dark eyes went to me and seemed excited. "I finally meet her," he said. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, before his eyes went to the king and queen in front of us, tied up and gagged. "Oh, a present. I didn’t
-Katherine- There was no one Acan loved more than himself, and so I didn’t think he had taken Silver with him. He wouldn’t even think about his boys, only himself. I believed I knew where Silver had gone, and so I took some guards with me and went upstairs, locating her room. There stood two guards, blocking the door, but I had four with me, and when I told them to move, they took one look at the whole scene and stepped to the side, not wanting to get into a fight with me. I smiled, feeling good about it, and I stepped inside, hearing Silver’s voice. "Acan?" I saw her standing up from the bed, holding a cup of wine in her hand, and she had blood on her. I could see she had taken hits, and I believed the mob had gotten their hands on her, but then she had slipped away. She was waiting for her big hero, Acan, to come save her, but he wasn’t coming. There were only she and I here. She looked at me, scared, not understanding why I was standing there. "Katherine…" "Hello Silver." "W-
-Darius- I looked at my beautiful wife, who had gotten dressed in our colors as well. Her hair was up, and she wore a silver crown. She looked so amazing, all I wanted was to say screw the party and instead enjoy having her all to myself, but I knew tonight was special, and I couldn’t let myself get distracted, so I settled for watching her from afar, taking in the wonderful woman in front of me. Someone I was so lucky to have been granted. I had earned her love, while Acan had been given it and wasted it. I was proud of us both and how far we had come. No one could say we hadn’t fought to be together, and once Acan and Silver were gone, we could truly relax. We could enjoy our lives together and just be happy. Katherine noticed me in the mirror she stood in front of and smiled at me. We had been able to act much faster than we thought was possible. But that was how angry the people were. That was how desperate they were to get the king and queen removed and to let others take their
-Katherine- The next morning, I knew I had to do something I really didn’t want to do, but sometimes we just had to sacrifice a little of our dignity to get what we want. I knew Silver would be with her ladies, and so I went to find them in the room where they were drinking, eating, and laughing early in the morning. Once I entered, though, the room grew so quiet, and Silver was glaring at me as I neared them. I put on my fake smile and began walking closer and closer. They kept watching me like a predator would, but I didn’t pay any attention to that. I stopped in front of them and bowed my head a little to show a little respect, even though I had none for them. "Morning," I greeted. They didn’t answer me back, and I understood that. "Can we help you?" Silver spat. "Actually, I did want to ask you a question," I admitted, seeing her grow interested because I was now showing a little vulnerability. "Oh?" she asked, sipping her wine. "Well, Acan said I could throw that party, as
-Katherine- Darius and I retreated to the room later after spending some time with Acan. I was already in bed when he joined me, pulling me close and kissing me on top of the head. "I was a bit worried about being away from you today. I saw you went to the city. How did it go?" he asked. "Perfect." "Perfect?" he asked. "You have no idea how angry the people are, Darius. They want Acan gone. I can feel it. They just need an opening, an option, and I am trying to find one," I informed him. "Any ideas?" he asked. "No, you?" We both thought about it for a long time. I knew if I could create an opening for the people, a way inside to get to Acan and Silver, then they would do the rest. They would attack, and in the middle of that attack, we could strike. We could do what was necessary. It was all coming together, but we needed that small part, that moment that would be the perfect option to hurt them. When was that? When could we finally be free of Acan and Silver? Darius ran his fi
-Katherine- So many of the people were angry at Acan and Silver. I had taken guards with me before I went to the city, but I listened to complaints all day. I made sure they felt like they had someone they could come to to talk about their struggles. I listened to everything they had to say and began feeding them ideas about taking down Acan and Silver. I was never straightforward about it. I just left small breadcrumbs that I hoped would turn into more. I hoped they would follow my little trial and see the benefits of getting rid of Acan and Silver, and I did seem to awaken something in them. A need. A fire that glowed in their eyes and told me they were considering it. It felt so good to see, because it was like watching the dream house that Acan and Silver had built only for them to have to watch it crumble. It gave me a sick, satisfying feeling knowing their lives would be destroyed. It made me feel incredible to know I would be the cause of it as well. I would be the reason why
-Darius- Acan and I continued to talk, and I noticed that the longer we talked and the more he drank, the more his guards were coming down. He was slowly letting me in again, and I tried to hide the wicked smile on my lips. I needed him to be less guarded with me. I needed him to allow me to enter his heart again, if he even had one, and to want me close. Only then could I turn things around and turn people against him. Eventually, though, he grew too tired and told me he was going to rest now but that we would be riding together tomorrow. I told him I couldn’t wait, even though the idea did not thrill me at all. I couldn’t think of anything worse, but there was no way around it. I finished my drink, then walked back to my room, finding my wife sleeping. I left it shortly just to check on my son, who was heavily guarded but also sleeping. I walked back to my own room, undressing and finally joining her in bed. She woke up a little, moving closer to me, and then fell right back to sle